Now, you see me: High concentrations of floating plastic debris in the coastal waters of the Balearic Islands (Spain)

Ruiz-Orejón, Luis F.; Sardá, Rafael; Ramis‐Pujol, Juan

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.06.010

Cited by 69 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 73 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…7). This high concentration region in the vicinity of the Balearic Archipelago was also mentioned by Ruiz-Orejon et al (2018) who, indeed, hypothesized that this accumulation area was created by the predominant hydrodynamic features on the surface layer, presenting higher litter density during summer months than in winter (Ruiz-Orejon et al, 2019). An additional seasonal analysis was reported by Arcangeli et al (2018), who described a clear seasonality with higher concentration of debris in summer for all sampled areas except for the Adriatic.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

Surface water circulation develops seasonally changing patterns of floating litter accumulation in the Mediterranean Sea. A modelling approach

Macías

Cózar

García-Górriz

et al. 2019

Marine Pollution Bulletin

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Marine litter and, particularly, plastics are a growing concern at global scale. The Mediterranean Sea is among the zones in the world with the highest concentration of floating plastic debris. However, our knowledge remains limited on the spatial distribution of litter across this basin. Here, a set of different numerical model simulations were conducted to examine the dynamic conditions of the surface layer of the Mediterranean and how this drives the circulation and accumulation of floating litter. Seasonal dynamics of surface water circulation led to contrasting distribution patterns of floating litter along the year. Multiple hot spots of litter zones appeared across the basin in summer, while litter disperses and moves towards the Eastern Mediterranean and nearshore waters in winter. Taking into account such seasonal variability in the spatial patterns of litter in the Mediterranean seems to be key in the design of further sampling surveys and management strategies.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 62%

Surface water circulation develops seasonally changing patterns of floating litter accumulation in the Mediterranean Sea. A modelling approach

Macías

Cózar

García-Górriz

et al. 2019

Marine Pollution Bulletin

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Most of the plastic items observed during our survey were categorized as irregular plastic fragments, suggesting a secondary origin of these items, probably derived from the fragmentation of larger objects. Progressive fragmentation of these items, likely to be favored by continuous beaching and resuspension along Mediterranean shores, will inevitably contribute to the pool of secondary microplastics (<5 mm), already copiously present in Mediterranean surface waters (Collignon et al, 2012;de Lucia et al, 2014, Cozar et al, 2015Panti et al, 2015;Fossi et al, 2016;Ruiz-Orejón et al, 2016;Suaria et al, 2016;Baini et al, 2018;Ruiz-Orejón et al, 2018, Palatinus et al, 2019.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visual observations of floating macro litter around Italy (Mediterranean Sea)

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We report the results of a visual survey of floating natural (NML) and anthropogenic (AML) macro-litter (>2.5 cm) performed in the central part of the Mediterranean Sea during a dual-use campaign onboard the Italian Navy tall ship “Amerigo Vespucci” which circumnavigated the Italian peninsula during May-June 2016. The distribution, abundance and composition of floating marine litter were assessed using a 10 m fixed-width strip transect method. Over 88 h of transect counts were performed, for a total of 168 transects, covering an overall survey length of 1026.35 km. 4756 anthropogenic litter items were counted during the transects, 96.9 % of which were classified as plastic items. Floating litter was found throughout the entire study area with densities ranging from 0 to 9205 items/km2 and with a mean abundance of 492 AML items/km2 and 77 NML items/km2 across all surveyed locations. Maximum AML densities (>3500 items/km2) were recorded in the Adriatic Sea, while the lowest densities (<50 items/km2) were found along the coastline of Sardinia and in the Strait of Messina. Our results document the ubiquitous presence of floating plastic litter around the Italian peninsula and underline the need to expand our knowledge about the main sources, transport, accumulation and fate of marine litter in the entire Mediterranean region.

show abstract

“…Similar levels were, however, reported by de Haan et al [58] off the coast of south-eastern coast of Spain (102,000 MPs/km 2 ). Most recently, Camins et al [32] reported an average of 94,500 MPs/km 2 in the Balearic Sea, which was an order of magnitude lower than the concentrations reported for the same region in 2018 (875,466 MPs/km 2 [128]).…”

Section: Microplastics In the Mediterranean Environment Microplastics...mentioning

confidence: 80%

Microplastics in the Mediterranean marine environment: a combined bibliometric and systematic analysis to identify current trends and challenges

Papadimitriu¹,

Allinson²

2022

Micropl.&Nanopl.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In recent decades, the potential toxicological and environmental effects of microplastics (MPs) in the Mediterranean Sea region have received growing attention. The number of studies in this area has increased; however, presently there is no scientometric perspective addressing this topic. The purpose of this study was to identify the intellectual base and research front using the visualization and analysis software, CiteSpace, in combination with a systematic review. We retrieved 150 articles, published in print or online as an early-access article between 1979 and 2020, from the Web of Science with a topic search related to MPs, environment, and uptake by biota. We then analysed synthesized networks of co-authorship (author, institution, country), co-citation (author document, journal) and co-occurring keywords. The annual publication output has trended upwards since 2011, with interest in MP abundance in the Mediterranean Sea particularly high in the past 5 years (2016–2020). Authors based in Italy accounted for 25% of the total publications, followed by Spain (16%); but overall publications from Belgium and the Netherlands were more influential. Major research themes identified include the abundance of MPs on beaches, in surface waters, sediments and biota. Secondary microplastics, such fibres and fragments, of a wide range of sizes and chemical composition were dominant in scientific reports, albeit citizen science collection of plastic resin pellets for International Pellet Watch suggests such primary MPs are also widespread, even if their numerical abundance from such collections is unclear. Few studies reported chemical contamination of MPs in the Mediterranean albeit a significant amount of information on the level of chemical contamination of plastic resin pellets is available on the International Pellet Watch website.

show abstract

Now, you see me: High concentrations of floating plastic debris in the coastal waters of the Balearic Islands (Spain)

Cited by 69 publications

References 73 publications

Surface water circulation develops seasonally changing patterns of floating litter accumulation in the Mediterranean Sea. A modelling approach

Surface water circulation develops seasonally changing patterns of floating litter accumulation in the Mediterranean Sea. A modelling approach

Visual observations of floating macro litter around Italy (Mediterranean Sea)

Microplastics in the Mediterranean marine environment: a combined bibliometric and systematic analysis to identify current trends and challenges

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About